Oh we know it is coming. .Galileo!!!! Creative Minority Report has more at Patron Saint of Jerks (also see comments). I am sure the Churches promotion of Astronomy or the fact than many of the Craters on the moon are named for Priest Scientist from the "bad ole days" will be rarely mentioned.
For those that want to know the full story of this
See The Galileo Legend
The pure unhonest way this event is twisted and used in today's world can be seen in the Student Protest early this year of Pope Benedict to the University of Rome.
There are a lot of good resources on the Web as to this. Also it should be recalled tht John Paul the II had a special commision do a ten year study on the matter. I will try to find if that has been translated into English because I expect I will be revisting this issue again
David Armstrong has some good links and thoughts. See
SHORTER PAPERS
Galileo: The Myths and the Facts
Dialogue on the Galileo Fiasco and Plea for Better Understanding of the Church's Error, Given the State of Scientific and Astronomical Knowledge in 1633 (Dave Armstrong vs. Eric G.)
LONGER PAPERSWhy the Galileo Case Doesn't Disprove Catholic Infallibility, Rightly-Understood / Sola Scriptura Redux (Dave Armstrong vs. Ken Temple and Eric G.)
Richard Dawkins and Double Standards in the "Religion vs. Science" Mentality / Galileo Redux
A definitive treatment of the Galileo controversy which includes the latest information granted by the Vatican archives concerning that controversy, is titled THE CHURCH AND GALILEO.
ReplyDeleteThe book is a collection of essays by specialists on that topic, edited by Ernan McMullin, published by Univ. of Notre Dame Press, 2005. The final essay in the book is by a scholarly Jesuit, George V. Coyne, S.J., and titled, "The Church's Most Recent Attempt to Dispel the Galileo Myth," in which Father Coyne demonstrates that there remains plenty of evidence that the Catholic church itself is at fault for not fessing up to its persecution of Galileo, and for attempting to invent excuses for how it treated Galileo and other heliocentrists at that time, and for centuries after wards. Well worth sending a copy of that chapter to any Catholic apologists one knows, to hear what they have to say after reading it.
According to another book I read (by an Oxford historian, the title currently escapes me, but I could find it) they showed Galileo the actual instruments of torture that they were prepared to use on him if he refused to recant.
Ah thanks so much for those titles. I am really going to try to bone up on this because I think it will be more in the news
ReplyDeleteI doubt bashing the Catholic Church is high on the agenda of people planning IYA. In fact, I'm fairly certain that it isn't. Check out the official page (astronomy2009.org), it actually has a transcript of Pope Benedict's Angelus for the 4th Sunday of Advent since he mentioned IYA.
ReplyDeleteNone of the events I'm planning will be bashing the Church, but perhaps I'm biased. That said, the story of Galileo will undoubtedly come up, and there are odds that the 'same old story' will be repeated, particularly in news outlets. Thanks for providing people with some resources to learn more and investigate what they learn in critical manner.
Actually I'd bet that the Vatican Observatory is involved with planning for IYA. I'm eager to learn what they're doing.